By Colin Crummy
Restructuring at Northcliffe Newspapers is an opportunity for sharing content, resources and strengthening the group’s online presence, according to one of its new regional editorial directors.
John Meehan (pictured), who will oversee the Northeast area, while editing the Hull & East Riding Daily Mail said: "There may be opportunities to share content and opportunities for teams in any of the centres to use work that can be done by any of them."
But he added that the measures were not simply a cost cutting exercise: "We are going to look to see if we can do things even more efficiently, but editorial quality will be a major priority: we will want to make sure we’re achieving excellence across all of the centres."
Two other regional editorial directors have been appointed: Alan Qualtrough, editor-in-chief at the Plymouth Evening Herald and Western Morning News will look after four titles in the Southwest, while Mike Norton, editor-in-chief at the Bristol Evening Post and Western Daily Press, will cover the West division. A fourth director will be announced for the Midlands area.
Meehan added that they had "a huge task to fully integrate electronic publishing" into their local offices.
"We want to get to the position where electronic publishing is part and parcel of the newsroom operation."
■Northcliffe’s Western Newspapers MD Andrew Calvert has left his post.
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